Schaste moe (2010) Reviews

• Brilliant, bleak film

  magus-92010-10-15

  Certainly one of the best films of the year, MY JOY depicts the journey of a truck driver through contemporary Russia. The journey is full of detours, some of which take in scenes from the past, from 60 years or so ago, in the time of World War Two. In beautiful, lyrical mise-en-scene, the director shows scenes of brutality, rudeness, corruption and violence; this is a poetical portrayal of ugliness... Whether it is intended as a depiction of the brutality of conditions in contemporary Russia, or whether it is intended more as a general portrait of the human condition is not entirely clear to me, but, whatever it is, this is strong, haunting film-making, skillfully depicting a disjointed world of violence and degradation.

• Big rewards for the attentive viewer

  timbirchard2012-11-19

  Extra warning: absolutely contains spoilers. I've only watched once (so far), and I'll admit that it took some serious concentration to follow. And I'm not without questions. But. For all the reviewers who said that it was simply a bunch of unrelated, disconnected short stories about violence, you didn't watch carefully enough. There IS a main character. The scenes support the story of this main character throughout the whole movie (only if you WATCH the whole thing, of course), all the way to the end. Our truck driving friend gives a lift to some random old man... a man who has lost his name (and his bride) in the war. We see the old man's story. And our truck driving friend has no idea that he will become just like this old man. Our truck driving friend runs out of diesel and ends up getting set upon by three men who are desperate... one of whom is mute. Our truck driving friend has no idea that he will become just like this man who is mute. And, contrary to one reviewer's perception that this all happens 'in a few days', we see a sudden shift from summer or fall to winter. It's our truck driving friend who is lying there in the woman's house, unmoving. It is he whom she takes advantage of physically, while he's unconscious. It is he who becomes imprisoned. He who stumbles out of prison when another inmate breaks out. He who waits by the side of the highway, finally to be picked up by a very talkative driver. And he who snaps at the end. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started watching this movie. After one viewing, I'm looking forward to owning it and delving deep into its layers, unraveling it as best I can to learn more and to answer some of the questions I still have: what was the time period of the teacher and his young son? And is the son, orphaned and left sitting on the bench at his house, also the same old man who saves our truck driving friend from freezing by taking him home on his horse-drawn sleigh? I have no problem with not having all of the answers at the end of my watch. A movie of this magnitude is certainly worth repeated viewings. If you feel the same way, I recommend this movie to you.

• A True Masterpiece

  holden7462011-01-20

  First of all, I want to say that the film simply blew me away. This film, Sergei Loznitsa's first feature is not only the best film (and discovery) of the year, but one of the biggest and most important works in cinema of this century. Before, Loznitsa was a documentary film maker and this effect can be seen in his fiction film. It is not only true and violent, but also very unconventional, different (truly ascetic, and here can be seen influence of Loznitsa's mentor, Robert Bresson), Loznitsa's use of long take is truly remarkable, in Russian cinema, long take has been used very ofter, beginning from Tarkovsky, then Shepitko, Sokurov, Zvyagintsv... but Loznitsa's use is different and unique, he absolutely refuses style (there is no disgusting exploitation of manner, that spoils Zvyagintsev's overrated, stupid and pointless "Vozvrascheniye"), he doesn't have style as a director, the film itself creates its style and language (and trust me, it's much difficult and much remarkable). And Loznitsa does very bold thing: he destroys notion of deep shot. Yes, Kiarostami shot films with digital camera (as Loznitsa does), but his shot is extremely static and Loznitsa makes very long travelings with hand held camera, what's truly new thing and it also creates a feeling of claustrophobia, of closed circle, of No Exit and it's really conceptual use of primitive cinematic method. It's extremely difficult film, but it's not art house and it's not the proud film, so called "not for everyone". It IS for everyone, but on the other hand, it should be watched very carefully: consider that you'll be shocked and maybe even depressed but I have one very useful advise: if you decide to watch this TRUE masterpiece, be patient and watch it till the end. It's really worth it.

• How can this movie have such a bad rating !?

  ivyssauro2014-05-14

  Most low reviews are from people claiming they didn't understand the movie, if you didn't understand it, it's your problem man, but giving it a low rate? it's like saying mathematic is a shitty* subject because you can't understand it. ridiculous, these people probably did not like Pulp Fiction, Amores Perros or 21 Grams, which are far more intricate movies. the movie is a Dostoevsky like tale about a man who take a wrong turn and ruins forever his life, showing the miserable and depraved evil that man are capable of. how authoritarian and merciless, and that sometimes the thief or the killer is a better friend than a cop. it also alternates time lines without a hint, which is genius and done in this way to emphasize the movie 'moral'. it's really great if you like depressive art. for me, a sad masterpiece. a movie about how miserable life is. too complicated for some.(IMDb didn't let me write the curses, great.)

• some sort of a remake of (a) far better film(s)

  Radu_A2011-09-15

  While I saw this film, I couldn't help but thinking: 'Hm, where have I seen that before?' 'My Joy' is a series of short stories - some related, some not - about men taking advantage of another, which is presented as a somewhat natural, inescapable state of affairs. It all ends with an amok shoot-out. That would be the exact formula of 'Brigands, Chapter VII' (1996) by the late Otar Iosselani, minus the earlier film's dry humor. After having had the chance to see it again, I would venture to say that the stylistic and narrative similarities are far too many to be coincidental. Losnitza also leans quite heavily on Tarkovsky in terms of photography and Sokurov in terms of montage; all in all, very little is original. 'My Joy' may be stylistically appreciated as some sort of homage to the aforementioned authors, but its subject matter would appear rather a summary of common clichés than a depiction of (rural) life in Ukraine or Russia. If you have traveled in the region, you will be familiar with the horror stories depicted in this film - corrupt roadside police, hookers and theft everywhere -, but also with the fact that these bear little resemblance to reality nowadays. 'My Joy' therefore appears to be made for the consideration of those who adhere to these stereotypes, rather than those who have a genuine interest in the region. I would also agree with those who criticize the story's arguably most shocking incident, namely the execution of a hospitable teacher by two marauding Red Army soldiers after his comment that the German Army might build a better Ukraine. While it's not altogether clear if that is the reason - the execution takes place the following morning, and the soldiers loot the place immediately afterward -, I think it's not acceptable for a German production - made with German tax payer's money - to include such a statement. I wouldn't go as far as calling this propaganda, though - rather a tasteless attempt to grab the viewer's attention. If you want to get an idea about what the German Army did to the Soviet Union, and why the statement in question is so controversial, watch 'Come and See' (1985). In short, 'My Joy' is not a complete disaster, one may acknowledge its adaptation of classic features in Russian cinema. But more noticeably, it is a questionable mixture of clichés severely lacking in originality.